In Denial
by Romvags
Summary: If you're in love with someone, are you going to keep on denying it or are you going to accept it? Are you even sure of your feelings? An Ike x Marth story...


If you are confused at what happened before this, the story will give some hints :) .

Setting: Beach, morning

"You have 29 days free from brawls for you to accomplish that." Ike must have thought why in the world he would say that. Was he expecting to actually develop feelings for the prince?

"That's unlikely to happen..." Ike thought in his head. It was unusual because after all, they were both men. But then it suddenly came to his mind, he almost did it with Marth. It was as if on impulse. Ike covered his face with his hand letting his hair slip through his fingers enough to hide his red face due to embarrassment.

"Ike, are you okay?" Ike jolted after Marth's sudden talk.

"Ah! It's... it's nothing." Ike tilted his head to prevent Marth from seeing his red face. It did not entirely prevent Marth from seeing it either. In fact, he found it rather adorable to see Ike getting ashamed. Although, Marth did get awkward as he knows why.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zelda and Peach have been eavesdropping Ike and Marth from afar sitting under the big umbrella.

"What's with them? They look so... awkward." Peach murmured.

"What's with the distance? They're facing away from each other as well." Zelda murmured.

The two observed the swordsmen sat on the sand. There was a big moment of silence. No one spoke nor look at each other. The princesses gulped at the tension.

"What's going on? They look like two students who secretly have a crush on each other..." Zelda commented still feeling uneasy.

"Ahahaha! I think so too." Peach giggled.

Both of them laughed and it slowly turned down as they have a sudden realization.

"This is fishy... Marth never really told us who he was referring to." Peach said.

"Nor the gender..."

After Zelda's statement, the two have a long pause before bursting into laughter again.

"If that was true, I wondered how it went when Marth gave the potion!" Peach said excitingly.

"Well! Marth was walking rather lamely after that!"

"Ahahaha! Despite that, Ike looked so naive."

"He probably doesn't remember!"

"Then... why do they look so awkward now?" Peach cut their enthusiastic conversation.

"Only one way to find out." Zelda said with cheeky smile.

* * *

Ike and Marth stared at the horizon. Everything looked like a cerulean canvas. All they could see was the blue sky and the blue ocean. There was not a speck of white in the sky.

"Ma- Master Hand is quite crafty, don't you think?" Marth asked trying to start a conversation.

"Marth..." Ike's voice didn't sound enthusiastic. It sounded serious.

Marth was a bit surprised at that. He felt uneasy but nevertheless, he was attentive to what Ike was about to say.

"Why did you choose to like me?" Ike asked.

Marth was a bit troubled by the question. The word 'choose' was a bit out of place there.

The two finally faced each other. However, Marth did not expect this and was surprised that their eyes met. Marth blushed and turned back to look on the horizon.

"So cute..." Ike thought when seeing the prince's face with a tilt of pink and his eyes wavering. But it didn't feel right. He shook that thought away and turned back to look on the horizon as well.

"I- "

"Good morning!" Zelda cut Marth before he could even utter another word.

"!?" Marth and Ike were shocked at the sudden intervention. Ike began to feel conscious if the two princesses were behind them when he asked that abrupt question. He didn't want the two princesses to get the wrong idea.

"Ike, could you lend Marth to us for a minute?" Peach asked with an extra bright smile.

"Ah- sure..." Ike said awkwardly noticing Peach's plastic smile. Lend?

* * *

The two princesses led Marth far from Ike although; Ike can still see them from afar.

Peach: So did you tell him Marth?

Marth: Eh? What do you mean?

Zelda: That you drugged him :) ? (With my drug)

Marth: What!? Wh- why would I give it to him?

Peach: Because you like him.

Marth: Whe- where did you get that idea?

Zelda: Oh come on Marth, we can't but help but notice that lovey-dovey aura around you guys.

Peach: Come to think of it, you guys are always together. I guess it's only natural for them to develop feelings for each other.

Marth: Ah! Tha- thats! Ugh! (It's pointless trying to argue with these two.)

Peach: Then it must be true! Ahahaha!

Marth: Yeah, happy? (These two are so pushy!)

The two princesses tried to cover their giggle but in the end, they can't help it. Marth was feeling a little fidgety at this moment and stared at the ground. It was obvious that he was feeling the embarrassment.

"Neh Zelda, you know what this means?" Peach asked with a mischievous smile. "We have a BROMANCE over here!"

"Ah! Turn down your voice Princess Peach!" Marth was worried that someone might hear their conversation. He worries about the fact that he was interested in the same gender. He didn't want others to know.

"Anyways, I didn't tell him that I drugged him." Marth added.

"Is that so? Then why do the two of you look so... you know what I mean." Zelda asked finally calming down.

"Because I tried to do it with him and he..." Marth paused. The two princesses were very curious to what Marth is about to say. Both of them leaned closer to the prince. "Almost went with the flow... He probably regrets it."

"..." All were silent.

"If a person as pretty as Marth would want to do it, I guess I wouldn't be able to restraint myself." Peach joked.

"I agree!" Zelda commented.

"Aak! Stop embarrassing me! (These two don't know the meaning of holding back.)" Marth felt like his face was going to explode in any moment.

"Okay okay. This is what I'm going to conclude." Zelda said. "You gave him the potion and the two of you DID it but Ike doesn't remember that. After you tried to do it with him, things began to feel awkward. I examined the potion I made again and it really does not make the person fall in love. I suppose it's impossible."

"Love isn't the thing you could really force into someone." Peach said.

And those words struck Marth. He was acting very brash. He felt ashamed for doing such things. Ike has been a good person to him and what Marth did was violate him. It felt like injustice.

"I- I'm going to tell him." Before the princesses could utter a word, Marth dashed away.

"Wa- wait!" Peach shouted but to no avail, Marth didn't hear her. "Aw. I was about to ask him who went bottom."

"Hahaha! It's obviously Marth!" Zelda joked.

"I know! I just wanted to see how he would react." Peach giggled.

* * *

"Ike... about your question."

"Oh..." Ike was very anxious to hear his answer.

"It's not a choice to like you. These kinds of things (love)... are unpredictable you know. As for why... I can't really explain it logically. I just... do." Marth felt like crying.

Ike was probably expecting another answer but somehow, he felt like Marth had a point. What a stupid question.

"And... I want to say sorry for- forcing you into doing those horrible things with me. That... that was very out-of-character for me." And there, Marth's tears began to fall.

"O-oi! Why are you crying?"

"Be- because I'm such a bad influence for you. I even drugged you. We- we actually did it!"

"What!?" Disbelief and embarrassment was evident in Ike's expression.

"I- I understand if... you want to avoid me from now on."

Marth turned away from Ike and ran away as his teardrops were left behind. Ike just stood there still bewildered from what Marth has just said. Ike did feel violated after knowing he was drugged and that... they have done it already but it didn't matter now. There was something else bothering him.

* * *

Setting: Inside the hotel, Evening

Ike walked at the hallway aimlessly. He seemed lonely after all; Marth is the only person he was closest to. He is able to socialize with everyone but it was a different feeling when it was with Marth.

"Ike!" Peach and Zelda shouted.

"Princess Peach, Princess Zelda..." Ike said with a dull voice.

"Let me guess, Marth told you almost everything..?" Peach asked but this time, with a comforting voice.

"So you guys know something about this... (These two are so perceptive)" Ike didn't need to wonder. He already had suspicions when they tried to borrow Marth for a while.

"Are you... angry?" Zelda asked.

"I don't know. I don't understand myself." Ike was feeling confused at the moment. He wondered to himself why did he feel a little attraction to Marth. He has many reasons to be angry but he can't bring himself to do so.

"Ike, I'm going to be straight to the point." Peach said. "Do you like Marth as well? I will not take 'I don't know' as an answer."

There was a moment of silence.

"How can I tell that I have already been attracted to the person?" Ike questioned.

"Pfft! There are a lot of them Ike." Zelda said.

"Don't you recognize that warm feeling just being with him? Or that you start to see him as cute on almost everything he does? You start to feel awkward just being with him." Peach gave an example.

All of those examples managed to struck Ike like an arrow. He does feel that way.

"I do but... he's not a woman. It doesn't feel right."

Princess Peach who was trying to be comforting could not hold on any longer.

"Whoever said that love should be on opposite genders!? I really find it annoying when people think that is how love should work. Listen, the gender doesn't matter. As long as there is love involved, it's fine. Plus, to fall in love is not a choice. Whether to accept it or refuse it, that is the choice!" Peach breathed heavily after saying those words with a raging tongue.

"Tha- that was very touching. (You surprised me)" Princess Zelda was taken aback at Princess Peach's sudden outburst. "I- Ike?"

Ike listened to every word Princess Peach has muttered. Those words have a very big impact. It was as if, he had a sudden change of view to the world. Ike formed a resolution.

"What are you going to do now?" Zelda asked.

"I... I'm going to make a choice." Ike answered with a determined expression. He thanked the princesses and ran to look for Marth.

"So..." Zelda looked at Peach. "Where did you get that message from?"

"What? Oh, that. It just came out from my mouth."

"I- Impressive."

* * *

Marth was all curled up on his bed. He couldn't bear to see Ike anymore. Whatever happened to "someday I'll make you fall in love with me?"

Suddenly, there was loud knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Marth shouted.

"It's me, Ike. Open the door."

Marth felt scared. He felt something bad was going to happen to him. He stood up to open the door but only slightly.

"Aren't you angry to me?"

"I surely hope that I'm not." Ike said with a half cheery tone.

"B- but you have every right to be..." Marth replied with such a gloomy tone that he can't even look at Ike straight to the eye.

"I know... I just want to talk to you."

Ike tried to open the door which shocked Marth.

"No! Don't open the door! (I don't want you to see my face)" Marth tried to resist by closing the door. But, Ike was stronger in terms of strength than Marth. What would you expect from a guy who can carry a two-handed sword with one hand? Ike was able to open the door and Marth backed away.

Ike, who was now conscious around his surroundings suspecting that there might be two princesses snooping around again went in and locked the door.

"All this time, I've been trying to convince myself that it's wrong." Ike said to Marth with a stern expression.

"What is Ike talking about?" Marth thought to himself. There was a heavy atmosphere in the room. Marth can't help but feel like he's going to faint.

"I kept on denying it. I even denied yours..." Ike continued.

Marth is pretty much confused on what is going on.

"Marth... I- I love you!" Ike raised the volume of his voice. "Just so you know, I'm not influenced by any drugs or potion! (Yeah... I just needed to get a little lecture from a sassy mouth)"

Marth's eyes widened. Did he really said it? He wanted to make sure...

"Are you sure you're not just returning my affections..?" Marth's voice was shaky at this moment.

"Yeah..."

And there... Marth wept. The burden in his heart felt like it was removed. His heart felt light. He was the happiest person in the world.

"Tha- that's just what I ever wanted to hear!" Ike felt like his cheeks was burning upon seeing Marth's face. He remembered what Peach said about the person you love being cute in almost every day when you see him.

Ike approached Marth and wiped away the tears from his cheeks. Marth felt a very tickling sensation when Ike did that. Marth's wavering eyes seemed like he was expecting for more. He got more.

Ike embraced Marth tightly. It was if Marth could slip away from his grip. Marth was still flustered from this but eventually embraced back as well. The two hugged each other for a minute or two before feeling a bit embarrassed.

The two took time to recover to their usual selves and have a conversation.

"Well Ike, I guess it didn't even need to reach 29 days." Marth chuckled.

"Ah... I guess so." Ike smiled.

"Well, when did you start to like me? And why?" Marth questioned.

"I don't know. What do you think?" Ike answered.

Marth thought about it. Since when exactly?

"As for why, I'm going to use your words. I can't explain it logically either." Ike made a 'radiant' smile which stunned Marth for a little while and followed with a smile.

"Hey Ike..." Marth called not looking at Ike but at the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to know what happened when you were influenced by the potion?" Marth joked.

"!? I- I'd rather not." Ike felt like a heavy object was dropped on his back which made Marth laugh.

* * *

The next day...

It was breakfast again with all the Smashers. As usual, it was lively as always. Marth and Ike were heading to the dining table when suddenly...

"Ike..." Captain Falcon patted Ike on the shoulders and showing a thumbs up. "I understand if you would suddenly change sides (Youth is so interesting nowadays)."

Ike was like "What in the world was that?"

Shortly after, Samus accompanied by Pikachu approached Marth.

"Take care of my friend." Samus said with a cheeky smile.

"Pikapii!" Pikachu gestured a wink.

"Heh?" Marth was surprised.

Zelda and Peach who were just standing near the dining table waved at the two and approached them.

"Hey! We totally support you two!" Peach said with eyes sparkling and hands clasped together.

"Eh!?" Marth and Ike could hardly tell what was going on until they realized the banner that was hanging on top. The two swordsmen can't help but jaw-drop for the banner says;

"Congratulations Marth and Ike! We support you!"

It turns out that Pit, who was their roommate next door heard every little detail of their conversation highlighting the part wherein Ike said "I love you!". Of course, none believed it at first and laughed at the idea instead but Princess Peach and Princess Zelda confirmed it to everyone anyways.

"EEEEEEHHHHHH!?"

*The end*

That's the end (/^o^)/ . Any questions left unanswered? Any confusions? Just review and I'll answer. I didn't have time to check the wrong use of the verb tense (if there was any) so I apologize if you spot one.


End file.
